He has been held without bail since July, when he was charged with 21 felony counts including conspiracy and fraud, in what the government alleges was a $7 billion Ponzi scheme involving certificates of deposit issued by an offshore bank and sold through affiliates of Houston-based Stanford Financial Group.

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The aneurysm was discovered after Stanford underwent a cardiac catheterization at the medical center Monday. He had been there since Aug. 27, when he was admitted with a rapid heartbeat.

In another matter related to the Stanford case, a court-appointed receiver trying to unravel Stanford Financial Group's books defended his request for $27 million in fees for the first 14 weeks of work on the case, saying the process is complex and he's only doing what he was hired to do.

The Securities and Exchange Commission chose Dallas attorney Ralph Janvey for the job in February but has since asked the Dallas judge overseeing the case to cut 20 percent off the fees and to stop Janvey from pursuing funds paid out to investors before the company collapsed.

In court filings, attorneys for Janvey said the fees are necessary because the Stanford case is far-flung and complex, "yet those who oppose payment to the receiver claim to be shocked that a big cleanup produces a big bill."

A hearing on the issue is scheduled for Sept. 10 in Dallas.

In addition, Bellagio LLC, which operates a hotel and casino on the Las Vegas strip, has sued Stanford for $258,480 in gambling debts.

Stanford signed 14 markers indicating he owes the casino more than a quarter-million dollars for gaming losses during an eight-day period in January. The markers "were deposited by Bellagio and returned by Mellon United National Bank" stamped with the designations "SIGM, Signature Not Like on File and/or RTM," all indications the bank wouldn't honor Stanford's IOUs, Bruce Aguilera, Bellagio's general counsel, said in a lawsuit filed in state court in Las Vegas on Tuesday.